Sources are saying that Sprint will soon offer a Sony smartphone in the US for the first time. We can't tell you who these sources are, but they're the kind that have spoken to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal in two separate reports. And the device apparently won't be cheap either. We're talking about an upcoming Xperia flagship. With Sony expected to unveil the Z3 at IFA next week, well, you can fill in the blanks from here. The phone will reportedly be available in time for winter holiday season.

Our hands-on look at the Xperia Z2, which we don't expect the Z3 to deviate from all that much

Sprint will carry the handset in the US, while its owner SoftBank will provide the phone in Japan. This is part of a joint effort for Sony to increase its presence in America and for Sprint to solidify the third place position among the country's major carriers. Since merger plans fell through, SoftBank has to engage alternative strategies to work its way up what is an entrenched and difficult market.

This, coupled with Sprint's more affordable unlimited data plan, may make the carrier more interesting to watch in the weeks ahead. Unfortunately, LTE towers don't grow on trees, so there's only so much we expect this deal to do.